| Popis: |
The effects of excessive doses of chlordiazepoxide in animals and in 22 patients who had attempted suicide are described. In most subjects, single doses up to 2250 mg caused sedation, often ataxia and dysarthria, and in rare instances sleep and coma. No organs or blood changes were noted, and recovery was uneventful in all cases. In animals, similar symptoms were observed with doses of 20–40 mg/kg and higher. The depressant effects in animals could be counteracted by analeptics and intensified by high doses of sedatives and hypnotics. Only slight changes of blood pressure and respiration occurred when large doses were given. Prolonged administration of chlordiazepoxide to animals in amounts severalfold higher than the clinical dosage schedule over a period of many months failed to produce toxic alterations of blood cells and tissues. An experiment is described in which a human volunteer took a total of 9700 mg of chlordiazepoxide over a period of 12 days; the only symptoms detected were irritability, ataxia, and dysarthria, and these were completely reversible. |
